6' 



REV. ANDREW CRAIG ROBINSON, M.A., ON DARIUS 



which SO depends upon it, would seem to pass away — of battles 

 fought and countless Medians slain. 



And this would seem a convenient place to draw attention 

 to the Inscriptions referred to, which place the royal descent 

 of Cyrus beyond possibiHty of doubt. One of the Inscriptions 

 of the time of the fall of Babylon, the Cylinder of Cyrus [Brit. Mus, 

 12049), proclaims his royal pedigree, set forth in the following 

 style : — 



" I am Cyrus, king of the world, the great king, the 

 mighty king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, 

 king of the quarters four, son of Cambyses, the great king, 

 king of Ansan, grandson of Cyrus, the great king, king of 

 Ansan, descendant of Teispes, the great king, king of Ansan, 

 eternal seed of royalty, of whom Bel and Nabu love the 

 reign, and for the delight of their hearts desired his 

 kingdom." 



There is a short inscription on the ruins at Murghab, the 

 remains probably of the tomb of Cyrus the Great — repeated four 

 times, containing words : — 



" Adam Kurusli KhsJiayathiya HakJiamanishiya " (trans- 

 lated : "I am Cyrus, the king, the Achaemenian "). 

 Eawlinson, Trans. Royal Asiatic Society, vol. x, part 2, 

 p. 270. 



This royal descent of Cyrus, recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder 

 and in the inscriptions of Cyrus at Murghab, is confirmed by the 

 royal pedigree of his kinsman Darius the son of Hysdaspes, 

 contained in the great rock inscription the " Behistun Inscription 

 of Darius." There Cyrus is referred to as of our race," and 

 Cyrus and Darius are shown to have had the same ancestor 

 Teispes, son of Achaemenes, on which account Darius says, " we» 

 have been called Achaemenians," and he declares that there 

 were eight of his race who had been kings before him, and that 

 he was the ninth. 



And the royal descent of Cyrus is further shown by the title 

 which is given to him in an inscription of NabonTdus, King of 

 Babylon, drawn up, as it would seem, some fourteen years before 

 the Fall of Babylon, in which Cyrus is mentioned as King of 

 Ansan." This inscription will be referred to again in another 

 connection. 



